DONOHUE TO DOBBS: APOLOGIZE OR DEBATE ME

Yesterday, after first addressing the Catholic Church’s failure to act responsibly in handling the sex abuse scandal, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the social context in which the scandal took place, asking, “What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?” On his CNN show last night, Lou Dobbs made the following comments about the pope:

“I don’t want to put you [addressing a guest] in jeopardy of either perdition or Hell itself. But, so I will gamble this, may I? The idea that the pope would come here and criticize the United States this way is, I think, first of all bad manners. I don’t care if you’re infallible [sarcastically] or not. So it’s bad manners. Number two, it is absolutely out of all proportion with the world scale. This is the most welcoming nation, the most generous nation on the face of the earth. And for this pope to have this attitude and to make these comments is, in my opinion, absolutely repugnant…. I’m on my way to Hell…. It seems to me that if one is going to reach to the level that he did, you have to have some moral standing for it. And what has been happening to this church…for the last decade, seems to leave open his standing, cleaning up his own house. I don’t know if there is a scriptural reference there, but it seems to me that, glass houses, stones. Whatever it may be, it’s just bad manners.”

Responding is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

“What the transcript doesn’t reveal is the tone of Dobbs’ remarks. He was sarcastic and insulting throughout. Dobbs can either apologize for his offensive remarks, or he can invite me on his show to debate him. Enough is enough—this guy has crossed the line big time.”